


crossed horizons

by ewagan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-10 01:17:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12900870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewagan/pseuds/ewagan
Summary: Lance thinks he's never really learned to fear the ocean, not until now.





	crossed horizons

**Author's Note:**

> submission for the Starboy zine, and a collab with Lin.
> 
> You can get the PDF [here](http://lancezine.bigcartel.com/).

Lance is a boy who grew up by the ocean, who spent his childhood swimming in the ocean. The ocean is his friend, rolling waves and deep blue. He grew up idolizing the Rangers, played out mock battles of kaiju with his siblings. If there was anything he was determined to do, it was to get into the Jaeger Program. He had dreams of being more than some boy from a tourist town, of becoming a hero.

He gets his wish, but it’s a hard road to becoming a Ranger. It takes years, with a great deal of hard work and perseverance, but he makes it. His mother is proud of him, smiling wide and happy when he tells her he’s been assigned to the Shatterdome in Lima.

The Peru Shatterdome is a far cry from the early stages of the training program, and smaller than Hong Kong’s. He’s technically a fully qualified Ranger now, but that doesn’t mean he’s the only one there. There’s Shiro, who is the Kwoon Room Master now, but he used to be one of the most talked about Rangers until he’d lost his arm in a fight, and his partner had gone into a coma. There’s Allura, the Marshall of the Shatterdome. She was a legend amongst the recruits of the Jaeger Program, one of the youngest to ever get in a jaeger, and one of the best Rangers around. While no longer on active duty due to her status as Marshall, she was still formidable.

There’s also Keith. Keith had developed some sort of infamy for being difficult both socially and in terms of drift compatibility, and for a while there were rumours he’d been thrown out of the program entirely, but he was here. He’d also been at the top of the class, and supposedly the best Ranger candidate to come through since Shiro.

The thing is, Keith drives Lance up the wall, sometimes almost literally. It’s hard to believe they’re drift compatible at all, with the way they seem to be constantly arguing about everything. Hunk sighs and shakes his head whenever he sees the two of them embroiled in another fight, but he also brings Lance cookies, so he’s definitely Lance’s best friend.

He doesn’t get along any better with Keith in the following weeks. Despite training together and several attempts on Lance’s part to try and get along, Keith remains prickly and difficult, and Lance is exasperated by almost everything Keith does. Hunk bears the brunt of his complaining with patience and by tuning him out, but it doesn’t stop Lance from ranting at him.

“He’s so stubborn, like, who the heck just charges into things without listening or thinking things through?” Lance grumbles, even as he watches Hunk work. He should be training probably, but this was more soothing and infinitely better than seeing Keith’s stupid face and stupid hair in the training rooms.

“Mmhmm.” Hunk makes an agreeing noise, squinting at the part he was repairing.

“And that hair? Like, has he ever heard of this thing called haircuts? Like you know, they’re great for not looking like you belong in the 70’s?” Lance subsides into angry mumbling, though the words _ _stupid__ and _ _mullet__ are heard loud and clear.

Hunk offers him a cookie and pats his shoulder, then goes back to his work.

 

Their first trial run in Upsilon Blue has Lance nervous, even though he’s been through the simulator so many times that all the actions are familiar. Keith is unhelpfully silent as he and Lance go through all the preparations and get into place, Coran directing them as they went.

“Ready?” Coran’s voice is cheerful, looking to them for confirmation. “Right-o, initiating neural handshake in three, two, one!”

There’s a breath before the rush of memories flood in, pulling at Lance like a rip current. But Lance was a boy who learned to swim almost as soon as he could walk, so he lets it wash over him and slowly carry him through, until they are no longer battering against him.

“Neural handshake initiated, calibration complete.” Lance can hear Coran, but he sounds distant. He is hyper-aware of Keith in his mind, how moving together comes easily, instinctively. It’s a far cry from their usual bickering, even as they ran through the basic movement range of the jaeger.

They were doing it. They were actually doing it. Lance was in a jaeger with a partner, someone who understood the strange elation he was feeling, the rush of excitement and who matched it, matched him for each move he made, just as he matched Keith’s every move. He marvels at how easy it is as they run through some basic simulations, Coran sounding pleased as he talked them through the exercises.

“Well done, gentlemen!” Coran pronounces, as they come to the end of their trial run. The neural handshake disengages, and Lance looks over at Keith, who looks as stunned as he feels. He can’t help the giddy grin that spreads over his face.

“We did it.” he whispers. “We are a good team.” Keith’s eyes meet his and the answering smile is all the response he needs.

 

Despite his constant letters and calls home, Lance still finds himself sneaking out of the Shatterdome during his free time to the only bit of home he has within easy access, just to breathe in the salty wind and let the ocean soothe the ache in his chest.

Keith finds him on the stretch of beach outside the Shatterdome, sunlight in his hair and exhaustion hanging on his frame. He offers Keith a tired smile, and wraps his arms around himself, staring at the horizon.

Lance is a lot of things, but he’s also tired and homesick. He might have wanted this, but it doesn’t stop him from missing home, from missing his mother and his baby sister. He misses fine sand under his feet and lazy waves, warm water and spending all day on a surfboard. He misses melting ice creams on the boardwalk, the excited shriek of his cousins as they ran across the beach, watching the sun set fire to the water.

He doesn’t expect Keith to sit down next to him without comment, solid and _there_ , a quiet presence but also a reminder that he isn’t alone. He’s known it since the first time they drifted together, the rush of sense memory and the connection, the understanding no one will ever quite know him the way Keith does. There’s a kind of intimacy to it, to having someone in your head and Lance thinks he could probably never do it with someone else again.

But he’s grateful for this, for what Keith is offering to him.

 

It’s inevitable that the alarms go off and Lance is tearing through the Shatterdome to the loading bay, waiting for updates even as he’s getting into his drive suit. Keith is not far behind, already suited up and ready for combat.

As they go through the preliminary stages of readying the jaeger, Lance wonders if this is a good idea. Sure, they’ve been better about getting along these days but he’s not sure he’s ready for this. Test drifts and simulations are all good and well, but it’s nothing compared to being inside a jaeger, suiting up for battle.

He’s only now painfully aware that it’s the two of them in a giant robot, off to fight a monster that haunted people’s nightmares. That they might come back injured, or they might not come back at all.

Lance thinks he's never really learned to fear the ocean, not until now. He's grown up half in the water, the smells of sea salt and rotting fish tells him home. But this, well. it was as far from home as he could get, fear solidifying in his bones and he cannot move, cannot breathe.

But _oh_ , he's not alone now. He has Keith next to him, Keith who tells him _move it_ , Keith who drives him crazy in more ways than he can count but Keith who is there, a steady presence in his mind. They have the power of a hurricane in their hands and maybe he's still terrified, but it's okay. He can fight back like this. So he grins at Keith, sees fierceness and determination reflected back at him and he thinks _I can do this_.

 

The end is not an explosion, or anything nearly as dramatic. The end is the two of them clinging to each other and the escape pod, helpless smiles across their faces. Lance cannot believe that they’ve done it, even though Keith is gripping his hand so hard that it hurts.

They’re alive, and that’s already so much more than he had hoped for when they started this mission. Lance lets out something like a choked sob, giddiness and relief washing over him even as he treads water.

“Hey, hey.” Keith’s hand is cupped around his face, thumbs stroking his cheek. “Hey. We did it.” Lance just nods, feeling tears spill from his eyes and he closes them, leaning in so his forehead rests on Keith’s.

“Yeah,” he gasps, rubbing at his eyes. “Yeah, we did.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated. <3
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ewagan).


End file.
